I like flea markets and power tools, parties and pillows. I’m a mommy and a decorator, and a diehard DIYer. Join me and my little family as we renovate our new (old) home with lots of love and plenty of elbow grease.

Wallpaper on the Playroom Ceiling

The ceiling in the playroom is really low - just under eight feet. It actually feels nice and cozy, especially for the kids, but I wanted to try and trick the eye a little. I hung the yellow curtains almost up to the ceiling and that helped, but it felt like we needed something a little more exciting up on or by the ceiling.

I've always loved Julia Rothman's Daydream wallpaper from Hygge & West. In a middle-of-the-night design session I remembered the pattern and reached out the company to see if they had enough rolls in stock to send me a rush shipment. We were only a few days out from the Domino shoot at this point and I needed that paper ASAP!! Hygge & West was wonderful to work with and they rushed those couple of rolls out right away.

I went with the green color way, which has a creamy background, soft blue clouds and the prettiest color of jade green on the sweet little birdies. When the girls walked in after the paper hangers were finished, there were all sorts of oohs and ahhs and even some squeals. :) A very good sign. Gracie called it magical, which was pretty much the perfect compliment. I think it feels pretty magical too.

We finished out the edges with just some casing trim (no room for even a short crown) that we painted with left over paint from the bathroom ceiling (Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder). We matched the baseboards too and left the walls white (Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace).

The wallpaper was a relatively affordable way to quickly transform this space. I spent almost no money on anything else in the playroom, so I felt good about investing in the couple of rolls and the labor for the paper hangers. I did save a lot of money by prepping the walls myself. We skim coated every surface, including the ceiling, with hot mud and then primed it all. It was a ton of work, but it helped me feel better about hiring out the paper. And really, we were so out of time, there was no way I could have hung this by myself. Plus it turns out there are all sorts of fancy contraptions the paper hanger used to install the long sheets at this angle. Tricky stuff! Sometimes it's best to leave installation to professionals - precious wallpaper is one of those times I think.

I couldn't be happier with this room. We use it all day long and it feels like such a happy, welcoming space where the girls can play and read and work on homework.

I'm feeling for you! I have NO IDEA why we put that horrible stuff on our walls here! It's so ugly!

We hired out the retexturing of our super-vaulted living room walls and it cost a crazy amount of money. I'm sure a lot of it was the ceiling height, but I've had other rooms bid out too (including the play room) and I was like, yeaaaahh... I'll just do it myself I think! It was going to cost about twice as much as the wallpaper installation to get just the ceiling skim coated! Craziness.

I will say though that the walls I have paid for look flawless! The walls of our playroom are pretty darn close to that, but the ceiling was much more tricky, so it's not perfect. Plus we were just totally out of time. I think if I had had more time I could have done a better job.

ANYWAY, I'm rambling. Point is, if I were you, I'd probably try a small room, like a bathroom, and see how it goes. If you're happy with it, tackle a hall or a bedroom. By the time you get around to the living spaces, you'll probably be a pro. OR you'll be happy to fork over the cash to some professional drywall guys or painters (both know how to do this well).

Wallpapered ceilings look so great! What a playful way to make the room more fun and whimsical. Great choice of paper as it's cute and fun, but still sophisticated. I so can't wait to see the Domino feature!

I adore that wallpaper. Always have. That is a fabulous playroom. Maybe one day, you will do 360 degree videoes of all your rooms so that we can get the full story of each room. Love all I have seen so far!